Audi obtained the second-ever license to operate autonomous vehicles on public roads in Nevada, the automaker reported Monday. Google nabbed the first special permit, but Audi is the only car manufacturer to acquire an autonomous operating license to date. The permit means that Audi can now perform "real world" testing of their autonomous technology.
Audi has been working on autonomous technology via the Audi TTS Pikes Peak research car, developed jointly between Volkswagen Group's Electronics Research Lab in Silicon Valley and Stanford University.

Audi envisions the technology being used to pilot the car during "mundane" stop-and-go driving or to assist in parking the vehicle in tight spaces. But autonomous driving doesn't have to be mundane, as evidenced by the driverless TTS's 27 minute climb of Pikes Peak highlighted in the video below.

Stay posted as Audi will be releasing more info on this initiative from CES this week.

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